Morpeth suffer Senior County Cup semi-final heartache as Northern run in the tries

The County Cup was once the highlight of the season, but now plays very much second fiddle to the league.

That said, Northern dominated Saturday’s semi-final with a free flowing, attractive brand of attacking rugby that the home side struggled to contain.

To mention absentees from the home line-up would be accurate, but inappropriate, the visitors were almost completely in the ascendency.

Morpeth played with both heart and commitment in a match which was well officiated by Northumberland referee, Yannick Debil.

It took Northern eight minutes before they took the lead with an unconverted try after numerous phases of possession.

A drop goal soon followed that made the score 0-8 on 15 minutes.

Finally Morpeth gained a foothold in the game, skipper Jack Elliott performed well at fly half with limited opportunities, whilst there were strong and wholehearted performances by forwards Steven Long, Tom Leeson and hooker Ryan Shaw.

On 18 minutes the home side scored a really good try. An excellent lineout some 30 metres out saw quick ball arrive to centre Sam Hornby, who cleverly delayed his pass for Leeson to sprint through a gap.

The flanker showed a good turn of speed before dotting down by the posts for full back Keiran Smith to convert. 7-8.

Yet Northern took only minutes before they increased their advantage when number 8 Rob Lenderyou went over, after several phases of recycled ball close to the home line, for a converted score. 7-15.

Although Smith was on the mark with another penalty after strong running from a determined Shaw, it was the enterprising visitors who deservedly stretched further ahead with the last play of the half, against an overworked home defence.

Half-time score 10-25.

The second half was almost completely dominated by Northern, with tries arriving at frequent intervals.

To their immense credit, Morpeth never gave up, and on 77 minutes scored another really good try. It was initiated with a break by Smith, followed by a kick ahead from Elliott before centre Hornby touched down.

Smith added a very good conversion.

The final score, 17-51.